Shopster's Dropshippers, eCommerce, and Selling Online Blog

Getting referrals

2012-02-06T10:34:03-07:00

All good salesmen follow the sound strategy of getting referrals from all of their satisfied customers. This makes perfect sense. A happy client is a good source of other possible clients, mostly people like himself or herself.

There’s no reason why this strategy cannot be applied for your online store, with slight adjustments.

Let’s say that your online store sells coffee and tea from all parts of the globe. You have a number of customers who order from you regularly. These coffee or tea lovers are almost certain to have friends and relatives who share their passion.

If you could get a list of these friends and relatives, you almost certainly assure yourself of future customers. And why not? You can drop the name of your satisfied client whom the possible client knows. They may or may not check if you are indeed who you say you are a reliable supplier of their favorite hot beverage.

If they bother to check, they can expect to hear from your customer what a dependable online store you have. If not, the fact that you are offering them something that they like is reason enough to try out your store.

No matter what product or service you offer, this method of getting referrals has been proven effective. These referrals in return, give you their own referrals. This is because this new client may know people that the original client does not know as well, if at all.

If you can apply this system of getting referrals, your online store will steadily expand for sure.

Two terrific selling opportunities

2012-02-01T09:20:56-07:00

Sometime in the next couple of weeks, there is a great opportunity for online stores that sell consumer goods.

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is coming up. And a few weeks later, it will be Valentine’s Day.

You don’t have to be Chinese to celebrate the Chinese New Year. It’s their Year of the Water Dragon, by the way, and it is said to be a good year for business. Make it so!

The Chinese holiday is a lot like the New Year’s Eve that we’re all familiar with. There will be parties and fireworks. The great thing is that even non-Chinese have been slowly getting into the act. It’s become a time for gift giving, as well.

Again, you don’t have to be Chinese to take part in the celebrations. Just spruce up your online store with red and gold decor. Those are the lucky Chinese colors, just like red and green are the traditional Christmas colors.

Think of it this way. You don’t have to be a Christian to celebrate Christmas. Heck, even Jews and Muslims greet their Christian and non-Christian friends on Dec. 24 and 25. You just go with the flow. And if you’re a businessman, then you take advantage of the season to sell more of your fine products to the general public.

Also, everyone knows that China is now the second largest economy in the world. Communist China doesn’t exist anymore. The Chinese all over the world are amassing greater and greater disposable income. So go sell them your stuff!

Then comes the day of lovers. Good thing that red is also the color best associated with Valentine’s Day. So it should be a simple matter of tweaking your online store that was decorated red and gold for the Chinese New Year. Remove the gold, put some hearts, and voila! You now have a festive online store ready to sell gift items to all the lovers out there.

That means everyone, people. Valentine’s Day is not just for single men and women. It’s for everyone who loves, and that means us.

Having a Valentine’s Day theme, even if what your online store sells is not a traditional V-Day gift can’t do you any harm. In fact, it will probably do you and your store a world of good.

Say you sell car accessories. You’d think that tires and car seat covers and all that car stuff isn’t gift-worthy, right?

Wrong. Since guys love their cars, it is all up to you and your store to sell the ladies the idea of giving their men things for their car on Feb. 14. A woman who gives her man a new set of car tires will have one happy boyfriend on this day of lovers, especially if the tires on his car have lost their tread.

Be imaginative, be creative. There’s no reason why you cannot give a Valentine’s theme for your store, no matter what products or services you sell.

So Happy Selling!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

And as the Chinese say on their new year, Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Having the best possible quickie

2012-01-29T21:34:03-07:00

The US military used a phrase to describe how they easily defeated a well-armed enemy not too long ago. The American armed forces resorted to "shock and awe" to stun the enemy into quick submission. By this, they meant that they threw everything they had at them including the kitchen sink at the shortest time imaginable. The enemy didn't know what hit them. All they knew was that they were flying the white flag of surrender sooner than anyone expected.

Sounds to us like a great way to have quickie sex, especially for the first time. It can happen in the workplace. You see a guy who really. really turns you on. You find a way to be with him someplace private. The parking garage maybe? Or the fire escape? Heck, it doesn't even have to be private. It can be in the office right after everyone has gone home for the day. Ask him to stay behind for a few minutes because you "need to clarify" something. Say it won't take more than five or ten minutes of his time. How can he say no?

Those will be the five to ten minutes of absolute sexual shock and awe. He won't know what hit him. All he knows is that he is ready to discuss some insignificant business matter one minute, and the next minute you are all over him, ripping his clothes off, giving him a mad blow job, then ending with a flourish as you fuck his lights out. If both of you have strong legs, you can even do it while standing.

It will be a quickie in every sense of the word. Consider it as a wham, bam, thank you Sam experience, even if his name isn't Sam. This is the kind of sex that could conceivably happen just once. He can go home to his girl or his wife, while you can head back to the ranch where your man waits. All you wanted was to try him out. Not wage a long war, but win a quick battle.

Then again, it can be the beginning of more sex adventures between the two of you. You made the first move, gave him a sex experience he may never forget. If he's a worthy foe, he will prepare his own version of shock and awe on you. Hope you like surprises!

Hold a Contest

2012-01-25T11:07:20-07:00

One of the most effective marketing gimmicks that can be used by online stores as well brick and mortar stores are to hold a contest.

In fact, given that online stores are easier to operate, contests are actually easier to hold. Less work is involved, and more importantly less money will be spent.

If the online store retails or wholesales consumer goods, the best approach is to have a contest that requires a purchase within a fixed time frame.

As an example, buyers of select goods can be asked a simple question. The best answer gets his or her pick of what to receive. If a site sells magazine subscriptions, anyone who gets a subscription during the duration of the contest can be asked a simple current events question. The winner has the choice of three months free subscription to the publication of his choice, or perhaps a hard cover book.

The prize does not cost much to the online store. It can even be gotten free from the supplier.

To prove that the contest is real, entries can be published on the site. The winning entry is announced on an agreed date.

If there is a noticeable spike in sales because of the contest, other versions can be held in other time periods. For now, a Valentine’s Day contest can be held with the main prize being a Valentine-related article.

If the original contest did extremely well, a similar one can be held immediately. This can be repeated for as long as there is a measurable increase in sales.

Once the excitement has worn off, the contest can be ended, only to come back at some time in the near or far future. In the meantime, you can offer discounts in place of contests to bring in the customers.

To entice even more buyers, there can be more prizes offered, which means that there will be more than one winner. The online store can have monthly, quarterly or semi-annual contests, as well.

The top prize can be a dinner for two at a well-known restaurant, with consolation prizes of gift cheques and gift bags. Those bags can contain premium items that are usually given away by suppliers.

For online stores dealing in high end products or services, the contest can have as the major prize a trip for two to a romantic location. The second prize can be his and hers jewellery, while a third prize can be a dinner for two at a restaurant followed by an all expenses paid 24-hour stay in a top hotel or resort.

Be sure to know what government regulations there are, if any, when holding anything that offers additional incentives for buyers. Also be ready to address complaints from those who failed to win.

Consider having a separate and independent panel of judges. Business or community leaders from your immediate area are a good choice. Avoid political or religious leaders whose judgment will certainly be biased by the work they do.

You will definitely have many ideas for contests. As always, put yourself in the position of the customer. Would you join your store’s contest? If the answer is yes, then go for it!

Good service = recurring clients

2012-01-18T11:28:34-07:00

No matter what product or service you are selling in your online store, one of the things that you need in order to thrive is to have as many recurring clients as possible.

This is true for all products. Even the single most expensive product that the average person will ever buy – real property like a house or a condominium – can still have repeat business in the future. Realtors know that families can either go up in life and seek bigger and better homes, or downscale their lifestyle by going for something smaller.

This is true for cars. The brand new car you have today will be an oldie in five or six years. You will probably want a new one if you have the means.

This is true even for private planes or yachts. If you’ve sold a plane to a sheik or business magnate, chances are that buyer will want to see what new models are available somewhere down the road.

Whatever your online site sells, you can sell to your present clients again. Only if you provide them with the kind of service that they want.

After-sales service should never be underestimated. You can contact your buyer shortly after the sale just to ask if he or she is happy with what was purchased from your online store. If the customer is unhappy, find out why and see if there’s anything you can do to correct the situation.

If you have a satisfied customer, on the other hand, say that you are happy to serve, and then send him or her occasional communications when you have a new product or service he may be interested in. Don’t go overboard. No need for hard sell. Just be friendly and informative. You will find that your good service will bring financial rewards. Always.

Hobbies make a great business

2012-01-16T09:29:34-07:00

Many retirees find a new source of livelihood because of their hobbies. However, you do not have to wait to retire to turn your own hobby or special interest into products or services to sell on your online store.

You may be an accountant whose spare time is spent collecting records and cassette tapes (in the past) to CDs not so long ago. Or you may be a mailman who just happens to collect vintage magazines or toy robots. Or you may be a teacher whose hobby is collecting coins or stamps.

You are therefore likely to have a huge collection worth a small fortune, and many people out there would pay good money to buy your treasures. Presuming that you are willing to turn these goodies into cash, you now have products that you can sell on your online store.

Don’t worry about running out of things to sell. You can also turn your online store into a trading post, where like-minded individuals who do not have their own online business can sell their stuff. For your troubles, you get a small commission, of course.

If your special interest is not a product but a service, you can still sell your services online. Is yoga, dance, or martial arts your passion? You can offer to teach, to lecture, or to host get-togethers, not unlike the Tupperware parties that were popular decades ago. Again, all for a small fee.

Everyone has something to offer everyone else, be it a product or a service. An online store has become the best way to go. All you have to do is set up that store. So what are you waiting for?

Tweaking your online store

2012-01-11T11:09:07-07:00

There are many stores that started out specializing in one line of products only to shift their specialization to another line.

The change can be gradual or it can be sudden. It all depends on the market being served by the store. This is true for not only physical brick-and-mortar stores, but online stores as well.

A store can be selling shoes, bags, belts and other leather goods for men and women, but shift to men only or women only products. Alternatively, a similar type of store can suddenly find a huge demand for bags, in which case more and more space is devoted to this one product until eventually the store becomes known for a wide range of leather bags.

The leather bag store can then evolve to a complete line of bags of all sizes and all kinds of materials.

The situation can also happen to food, for example. Or clothes, or jewelry, or electronics. In fact, it can happen to any kind of store. You can get an indication of where to take your store from the patterns that emerge in your first months or even years of existence. The important thing is to be ready to make that move in a hurry, before you lose your competitive advantage. Once you see a pattern emerging, start looking around for suppliers or start looking for exclusive designs that only your store will carry. You can either count on your current supplier, or shop around for additional ones.

Spotting a Trend

2012-01-09T11:06:58-07:00

There are products that rarely change, and there are products that have to change in order to sell. Under the former, you have such standardized products as McDonalds’ Big Macs, Coke, and Swiss Army Knives. They may tweak their looks every so often, but the global market has come to expect the core products to stay the same, year in and year out.

Under the latter, you have such products as cars, women’s clothes, and consumer electronics. Their markets demand new models practically every year.

The products you have in your online store are likely to fall under either category. If you happen to be selling products that change in appearance fairly regularly, you have to be able to spot the trends and adapt to them ahead of the pack, as much as possible.

Say your main product lines are sunglasses. There are new pairs of shades introduced all the time, but there are also shades that are considered classic and hardly ever alter their appearance such as the RayBan aviator sunglasses. If your online store sells plenty of classics, then you have to tweak the look of your site now and then so that it does not appear stagnant. However, if you sell the fashionable shades made by the well-known designers, then the new products are the focal point of your site. You may not have to change the overall look of your online store, but you do have to be sure that you are pushing this year’s models. Spot the trends as they take place. Then be first off the starting line in selling the latest models. Consumers will appreciate your keeping up with the constantly changing product landscape.

Starting Out

2012-01-04T11:01:56-07:00

If you are a relatively new entrepreneur, you may be swayed by the get-rich-quick schemes found all over the internet. So many con artists claim that they know the “secrets” of making millions online. Some may actually be swimming in dough, but others are just scheming to fool honest folk whom they consider gullible.

Mostly, they want you to shell out your hard-earned cash for their secrets. These will be nothing more than advice that you have heard before, broad or vague generalities about working hard or working smart.

Do not waste your time or money on the trash they so generously want to share with you, for a price. Even if it is just a few dollars, they work on the law of averages. The more people they fool, the more money they make.

What you want to do is put up a business that earns you decent profits, more than the regular pay cheque that you get by being employed. Realistically, you want your online store to generate income at the shortest time possible.

At the start, the profits will only trickle in. Expecting to be swamped with orders is a nice dream, but in the real world it takes time to generate business, particularly for start-ups.

Just like brick and mortar stores, some online businesses will make money, some will not. Start at the basics. You must know something about the line of business you want to enter. If you are an artist, no one expects you to suddenly open a high-end garage or a travel agency. However, if you were to set up an art gallery, then you are on the right track. In addition, no, you will not sell works by Picasso. However, you will probably sell affordable works by rising young artists. In addition, that is a good thing, isn’t it?

Don’t let the economy get you down

2012-01-02T10:00:21-07:00

Throughout much of the developed world, the state of the economy has been pretty much in the doldrums ever since the global economic meltdown of three years ago.

Retailers such as yourself and wholesalers such as your drop shippers feel the pinch, although there are enough positive signs that a recovery is underway.

It is easy enough to surrender to the general negative feeling that persists in many industries, retail and wholesale included. However, if you allow those negative feelings to grab hold of you, your chances of moving forward become, for all intents, non-existent.

Your drop shippers are aware of this. Remember that they do have a different vantage point from you. You and your business are at ground level, but your drop shippers see things from a higher perspective.

If the economy were going downhill as a few doomsayers say, then your drop shippers would have shut down their operations a long time ago. If, on the other hand, they see that a full-blown recovery is approaching, they will likely stay in business at all cost.

So what do you see? Are your drop shippers falling like dominos? Or are they standing tall, taking the licks as they come, and planning for better times ahead?

Since all drop shippers have spent much larger sums than you to put up their business, the fact that they are still around should tell you what’s ahead. When a nation’s economy falls, the next sure thing to happen is for that same economy to rise. Drop shippers are expecting a major economic rebound, and they want nothing more than to bring their retailers up with them when it does. That would include you!

Early failures pave the way for eventual success

2011-12-28T12:03:21-07:00

For new and inexperienced entrepreneurs, selling online can seem like a daunting line of work. When business does not do as well as they had expected in the first few weeks and months, giving up are an easy option. They will tell themselves, this is not for me.

There are countless success stories of ordinary men and women raking in big bucks through online selling. Almost all of them would have stumbled a few times before they found the right formula for their success. Sure, a desire to succeed is necessary, but so is a commitment to the new business.

It will not be easy, but selling online should not be impossibly hard either. All it takes is a little luck and a lot of hard work. There are bound to be some early failures, but this is true for most businesses that eventually made it big. Some marketing gurus say there is no such thing as luck in business. One popular saying goes thus: “Luck? I make my luck!”

In other words, working hard while working online will bring together all the resources your way that will result in your considering yourself “lucky.”

Make your luck. Do not be afraid to fail. Each failure is a valuable lesson that you can avoid next time. If you learn your lessons from your past failures, you will no longer repeat them in the future. All these sound like the slogans in the inspirational posters you can buy in any bookstore or gift shop. They also happen to be true.

Create Your Own Holiday Sales

2011-12-26T11:11:16-07:00

Every owner of every online store knows that he or she is in a daily fight for market share and customer loyalty.

They resort to conventional marketing gimmicks such as holiday sales, which may not always work. Not when everyone else is doing the same thing. Thus, Christmas, Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and all similar holidays see practically all online stores having special sales.

But what if you had your own special day/days when you give discounts and freebies to new and old customers?

One of the old, classic comic strips of the past – Li’l Abner – had its Sadie Hawkins Day, when women were allowed to publicly run after men. It seems like a quaint idea now, which is why the comic strip has faded into history, but the idea is not bad. Even a non-holiday like Ground Hog’s Day is celebrated in some rural areas, and was even made into a movie.

What sort of holidays can you create?

Use your imagination. Are you a Trekkie perhaps? Then you can have a Captain Kirk or Spock Day. You like old movies? How about a Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart or John Wayne Day? You can have it on their actual birthdays, or when they passed away.

This week saw a Christian cult insisting that May 21 is when the world ends. You can have a World Will Not End on (choose your date) Day.

The important thing is for your invented holiday to be done in the spirit of fun, with tongue firmly in cheek.. It also gives you a good reason to have a special sale on your online store, with the goal of bringing in more customers.

Create Your Own Holiday Sales

2011-12-26T11:11:14-07:00

Every owner of every online store knows that he or she is in a daily fight for market share and customer loyalty.

But what if you had your own special day/days when you give discounts and freebies to new and old customers?

What sort of holidays can you create?

This week saw a Christian cult insisting that May 21 is when the world ends. You can have a World Will Not End on (choose your date) Day.

Holding an auction to boost sales

2011-12-21T09:31:19-07:00

Everyone knows eBay. This online company’s formula for success is as simple as it is effective. Post a product on the site and have people bid on that product. The bidding is for a fixed time frame, so any interested party has up to the deadline to decide if he or she really wants that product and at what price.

The owner of the product can also specify how much he wants so if anyone really wants that item, no bidding is necessary. The buyer agrees to pay the asking price. The deal is sealed, payment is made and delivery is arranged.

There have been attempts to imitate the eBay formula to varying degrees of success.

Your online store can copy the formula without having to be a poor man’s version of eBay. You simply select one or two products of the week or month, and open the door to bidders. If, for example, you sell men’s clothes, you can have bids for the extra large leather jackets you have in your inventory for one month, and then move to pastel colored golf shirts the next, then on to silk neckties the following month.

If your online store sells women’s shoes and handbags, you can have bids on single items only such as that last small pair of red pumps. If you have single items up for bids, your turnover could be faster than if you offered several similar items.

In addition, adding an interesting detail can make an ordinary product more attractive. If the basketball shoes you sell are the same kind that President Barack Obama or Tom Hanks uses when he plays, then say so. Such details can be enough to clinch a sale sometimes.

Online Marketing Moves that Can Save Your Business

2011-12-19T14:08:09-07:00

The thing with online marketing strategies is that it changes quickly and regularly depending on factors such as social media trends. In order to keep your business profiting well, you should be up-to-date regarding the online marketing tips that will move you ahead of your competitors. You should have online store or connectivity. If you are looking for new strategies to improve your performance in the middle of 2011, here are some of them:

Take advantage of the Like button on Facebook

If you don’t have the Like button on your website yet, then you are seriously not keeping up with the game. If you think that social media is only for teens who don’t have anything to do, then better change your thinking. The more likes you get, the more visibility you will have to the millions of people logging on Facebook everyday. While you are at it, better use the other applications that Facebook has been cooking up while you were still living under the rock until recently.

Use videos to the hilt

Videos are great marketing tools in which you have total control on how you want to present your products and services. You need not worry about your video getting lost in the multitude. Google search results now include lots of videos and they often show up higher than paid and organic results.

Your website should be tech friendly

Given the number of people using iPhones, iPads, and Android devices, it’s foolish to own a website that does not support these gadgets. Most people access the web through their mobile devices so just imagine the opportunity and exposure wasted if your website can’t be accessed through hand-held devices.

How to Give Your Man a Makeover

2011-12-12T11:30:49-07:00

Face it. Most men do not have a clue about what is sexy and what is pure in the sexy looks department. In particular, the undies they wear almost always leave something to be desired.

Guys who served in the armed forces seem to be stuck, forever wearing those boxer shorts with drawstrings. Other guys never outgrew the plain white briefs, the kind that they had when they first started wearing underwear.

Then there are those guys who may not be geeks, but who still wear loose boxers with such themes as super heroes, Star Wars or Star Trek, or – gasp! – Cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck.

Besides the inappropriate undies, some men still insist on wearing white socks. This can get particularly bad when he has stripped naked save for the silly socks.

Sometimes it is so bad that the woman would rather they keep their clothes on, even during sex.

There is a plus side to the sad state of men who wear awful undies. Most men also like receiving unexpected gifts, underwear included. In addition, since undies are affordable, we women do not need a special occasion to give the hapless men in our lives the kind of gifts that they will appreciate.

You can even make a special occasion out of the gift. Tell him a few hours before that you just bought him some sexy underwear, but since you do not know if they will fit, you have to be the one to put them on him. Just to try them out, you understand.

One the two of you are alone, then you have to do the honours of pulling down his pants, then his blah undies. Then you put on the new pair of men’s thongs, or whatever it is that you want to see him in. If you bought several pairs, then he has to try them out one by one.

Of course, they fit. All you had to do before ordering them was to get his belt size. Or peek at any of his old briefs or shorts, which will usually state the size.

If you bought him three pairs, then you have to strip him three times. On the last try, tell him to show his appreciation for the terrific gift you just gave him. He should have a neat woodier after all the fittings. Now prepare to be rewarded for your kindness.